1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to shoelace tying training devices and particularly to a shoelace pull tab device for facilitating and teaching lace tying, the pull tab comprising a small beadlike device having two spaced apertures therethrough which are both tapered to squeeze the lace and angled to create friction through which the lace end on lace member is threaded up through a first aperture and down through a second aperture to create a gripping tab which will not slide/move its position on the newly created end of said lace members thereby providing a grip or pull tab for children to manipulate the laces into a bow.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
With the advent of hook and loop fasteners and self closing shoe systems the art of tying ones shoelaces has been lost to many children ages 3-8. As a matter of fact, 75% of children now learn to tie their shoelaces at ages 6 and above.
Many prior art tying methods are approached using the “Bunny-ear or Loop” method which creates too many “holes/loops” and confuses children whose dexterity is not advanced at an early age. Many devices have been proposed to instruct a child to tie a bow in their shoelaces including dolls, books, toys, and practice boards, but none have attached devices to facilitate tying and aid in learning how to tie shoe laces, as does the device and the associated teaching method of the present invention which ultimately allows the child to create a more secure knot.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,256, issued Jun. 24, 2003 to Liu, is for a double-bow shoe lace device for a shoe which includes a shoe lace, a clamp member, a decorative knot, and a pair of pull members. The shoe lace has a first lace segment adapted to be strung on the shoe, and a second lace segment that includes first and second lace portions. The lower ends of the lace portions are anchored on eyelet tabs of the shoe. The clamp member is sleeved slidably on the lace portions. Downward and upward movements of the clamp member along the lace portions result in tightening and loosening of the shoe. The lace portions are anchored on the clamp member to form a pair of loops. The knot is positioned on the clamp member, and has a pair of distal lace ends. Each of the pull members is mounted slidably on a respective one of the loops.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,510, issued Dec. 13, 1994 to Stanfield, claims a shoelace tying aid comprising a combination shoelace and joining device for use by young children or the handicapped, to aid in tying a bow in a shoelace that is mounted on a shoe. The joining device has a pair of permanently connected shoelace holding portions, with a first portion substantially permanently mounted on a shoelace part and a second portion which is child-mountable on a second shoelace part to hold a shoelace end portion in a loop configuration which aids in tying a bow. Each shoelace holding portion forms a passage part through which one of the shoelace parts extends. One joining device includes a pair of clamp parts that can be clamped around the second shoelace part, and that forms the second joining portion. The device includes a flexible strip that holds the clamp parts together and that forms the first holding portion. A teaching kit includes a joining device mounted on a short teaching shoelace that is threaded on a shoe device in the form of a cardboard plate representing a shoe.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,667, issued May 11, 1993 to Stanfield, discloses a teaching shoelace for use by young children or the handicapped, which facilitates tying of a bow by providing a moderately stiff end portion; the stiff end portion can retain a loop shape when a pair of spaced locations on the stiff end portion are temporarily fastened together as by a pair of Velcro retainers. The shoelace is formed of a flexible shoelace core with first and second opposite end portions, and with the first end portion penetrated by a solidified, originally-liquid stiffening material. The shoelace can be made only long enough to leave ends for bow tying, when it projects directly between the uppermost eyelets of a shoe, to train a child rather than to also lace his shoes. The length is small enough that the distance between the middle of the shoelace and the closest Velcro retainer is less than the distance between two Velcro retainers. A short tube is provided through which the shoelace projects, with knots tied at opposite ends of the tube and with the tube lying under the uppermost eyelets of a shoe, to assure that opposite ends of the shoelace are of equal length. The two shoelace locations can be held together by a hook device.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 2,646,630, issued Jul. 28, 1953 to Miller, indicates an educational shoelace having spaced and fragmented pictorial representations thereon which when a bow is correctly tied will be positioned as to form a complete pictorial representation.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,342,557, issued Aug. 3, 1982 to Bandar, concerns device which can be used as an educational means for teaching young children how to tie a double bow knot, particularly in their shoe laces, or as an aid to the handicapped child lacking sufficient manual dexterity in tying such a knot. Basically the device is a planar body member in which is provided two pairs of spaced-apart openings in alignment with one another, the two intermediate openings being connected by a narrow opening or slit. The device allows “bunny ear” loops to be formed in the intermediate spaced-apart openings and to form the double bow knot by making a simple overhand knot with the two “bunny ear” loops.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,457, issued Oct. 8, 1996 to Haslam, describes a teaching aid to assist in teaching a young child or other person how to tie his or her own shoelaces by correlating the various steps of the shoelace-tying process to a story or other logical sequence of events that the child is familiar with or can quickly learn so that an adult can readily explain the steps of the process to the child and the child can more easily understand, learn and remember the process. A teaching aid according to the present invention is a special shoelace having distinguishable segments provided thereon which are arranged in a predetermined pattern and at predetermined positions on the shoelace so as to provide a guide for describing the manner in which the shoelace is to be manipulated during the tying process.
What is needed is an actual attachment to each free end of a lace on one of a pair of footwear positioned at the apex of where each of the bows would normally be formed to tie the lace so that each attachment acts as a pull tab to be gripped by a child to make it easier for a child to tie the lace on the footwear by providing an easier point to push through the hole and to pull on to cinch down the bow. Thus one learns to tie the lace rapidly and easily, wherein the pull tabs remain on the laces as a decorative element so that they are always on the lace to assist the child whenever the lace needs tying until the child is ready to remove the device from the one lace first and then the second and tie on their own.